Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with the equivalent of 50 or more staff members will have to offer group health insurance to workers. While the federal law includes limits for how much employees coverage providers are allowed to charge subscribers, some people will likely struggle to pay high deductibles.
However, the government has plans to help people in this situation. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Health Savings Accounts "were created in 2003 so that individuals covered by high-deductible health plans could receive tax-preferred treatment of money saved for medical expenses."
The Society for Human Resource Management recently reported that the Internal Revenue Service has announced HSA increases for 2014. Next year, the maximum contribution from workers and employers for individual accounts will be $3,300, a $50 spike. Meanwhile, family plans will climb by $100 to $6,550.
The SHRM points out that these increases are smaller than the ones enacted in 2012 for 2013. The individual limit went up $150 and family accounts rose by $200. The news source speculates that this is because of "the government's calculation of a more modest inflation rate."
The amounts for high-deductible health plans also increased. The maximum out-of-pocket amounts are now $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families. These are $100 and $200 higher than the current limits. The spikes are exactly half of the ones put in place in 2012.
These contribution increases will be extremely beneficial moving forward. It can be difficult to project what health care costs will be for the coming year, but having a HSA account will assist employees with pre-tax dollars that will go towards meeting their deductible.
What this means for employers
For businesses, the increases are actually great news. While it may seem like giving employees more money for their personal medical care isn't great for the bottom line, it can go a long way toward ensuring that staff members are happy and feel like their companies have their best interests at heart. This can increase workplace satisfaction and ensure that workers can access necessary treatments whenever they're sick or injured, which would help reduce absences.